Affection Immemorial
by Nuit Songeur
Summary: Mai doesn't feel as though she belongs anywhere after the war.  Jet helps her to find her way.  50 prompts- one sentence each.


**A/N:** This was written for the Beta prompt set for the 1sentence community on LiveJournal. The pairing I claimed was Jet/Mai, or Jai, if you prefer. The idea is to write only one sense with each prompt. The prompts are out of order for a slightly more chronological setting.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

**Warnings:** Crack pairing, generally post-canon, implied sex, also references to Jet/Katara and a minor reference to the platonic Katara/Zuko.

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><p><strong>Affection Immemorial<br>**By: Nuit Songeur

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><p><strong>#09 - War<strong>  
>There was still a battle raging through her, despite the Fire Lord's peace declaration and her placid façade, and Jet could see it.<p>

**#37 - Soliloquy**  
>"She looks so much like a Kyoshi warrior I flirted with back in Ba Sing Se," Jet mused to himself.<p>

**#41 - Nowhere**  
>Mai was lost; she couldn't stay in the Fire Nation.<p>

**#03 - Wishes**  
>She wished the boy wearing ragtag armor would quit staring at her so intensely as if she were an animal to be appraised.<p>

**#02 - Waltz**  
>"I don't dance," Mai deadpanned as soon as he approached her, but the look in his eyes told her that he had something else in mind.<p>

**#06 - Whimsy**  
>"It's just an offer," he said, folding his arms across his chest, "not an order or a responsibility."<p>

**#07 - Wasteland**  
>"There's nothing left for me here or anywhere; go or stay, I gain nothing and lose everything."<p>

**#10 - Weddings**  
>Not for the first time in his life, Jet was happy at someone else's pain.<p>

**#46 - Horizon**  
>After what seemed like months of scanning the horizon, Jet finally caught the first glimpse of her arrival.<p>

**#18 - Balloon**  
>He remembers watching in amazement the descending war balloon and his sarcastic remark of, "I'm glad you don't like to travel in extravagance."<p>

**#23 - Question**  
>"Because I was bored," she would say by way of answer whenever he would ask.<br>**  
>#17 - Belief<strong>  
>"I don't think you're as emotionally dead as you'd like for everyone to believe," he remarked as he draped an arm across her shoulder, knowing that she found any physical contact with him annoying.<p>

**#26 - Jump**  
>"I'll catch you," he promised even though Mai was never stupid enough to try it.<p>

**#08 - Whiskey & Rum**  
>Lighten up, he had told her, not knowing the effects of the glass bottle as he pushed it into her hand.<br>**  
>#19 - Balcony<strong>  
>"Don't make me come up there," he threatened as she flaunted the hooked swords she'd stolen from him, doing little to hide her small smirk.<p>

**#28 - Jousting**  
>The last time he teased Mai about her hair, she sent a knife flying past his ear and swore when she missed.<br>**  
>#34 - Serenade<strong>  
>"I suppose I should sing to you," he suggested with a chuckle, "the ways of the Earth Kingdom to prove that you aren't Fire Nation."<p>

**#13 - Bias**  
>She wasn't Fire Nation— Jet couldn't convince himself others— and that was why he allowed her to stay, why he secretly wanted her to stay.<br>**  
>#30 - Just<strong>  
>Their relationship was an odd one, unreliable at best, but it was what it was as Mai found herself lingering in his doorways, speechless, whenever something bothered her.<p>

**#22 - Quirks**  
>Mai didn't see the need in grabbing the back of her collar and dragging her off every time Jet wanted to rant about something.<p>

**#01 - Walking**  
>It was a mere passing each other, but their eyes seemed to lock for an inexorable minute before Mai continued on to her room.<br>**  
>#21 - Quiet<strong>  
>She was completely silent when her desire won out and she swiftly turned Jet around to kiss him for the first time, wondering if he was as great as he claimed to be.<br>**  
>#12 - Blessing<strong>  
>Jet knew you never questioned miracles when they happened, just like he didn't when Mai came to him in the night without her weapons and wearing only a loose, unbuttoned robe.<p>

**#48 - Virtuous**  
>"Never?" he asked, amazed as she deftly wrapped a leg around his waist and was suddenly on top of him.<p>

**#43 - Nuance**  
>It was strange, but Mai noticed how Jet's skin always felt uncharacteristically warm, as if he had a fire within like any other Firebender.<p>

**#31 - Smirk**  
>"I believe sometimes that I've won the war and you are the gracious prize bestowed upon me," Jet would say, narrowly dodging a slew of her stilettos.<br>**  
>#27 - Jester<strong>  
>"You're joking," she said with the smallest hint of disbelief when he held up his newly acquired chains with a smirk.<br>**  
>#45 - Nocturnal<strong>  
>Jet noticed she couldn't sleep during lunar eclipses, and even though he didn't ask about it, he had a feeling the complete darkness reminded her of prison cells<p>

**#50 - Defeat**  
>It was only late at night, when the thunder roared mercilessly, did Jet hear Mai's anguished cries for Zuko.<p>

**#39 - Share**  
>Mai could only cross her arms and glare murderously when Katara arrived for a visit.<br>**  
>#32 - Sorrow<strong>  
>Everything reminded her of Katara, whether Mai was with Zuko or Jet, because both had worked to earn her trust; Mai was just the forgotten, quiet girl with knives instead of water.<p>

**#29 - Jewel**  
>"You were just a gem that needed polishing," Jet said with a shrug, "you were always as strong as diamonds."<p>

**#15 - Breathing**  
>Mai felt as though she could breathe again once the Water Tribe girl had finally left.<p>

**#40 - Solitary**  
>"I never took you for the jealous type," Jet said with a smile, pulling her into him.<br>**  
>#35 - Sarcasm<strong>  
>"Well, you didn't have to be so grateful," Jet said over the shredded pink thing he had given her.<br>**  
>#11 - Birthday<strong>  
>The casual dismissal of her belated birthday present irritated Jet beyond words.<p>

**#24 - Quarrel**  
>"You're just like the rest of them," he would yell whenever they were fighting, not knowing it was the worst thing he could say.<br>**  
>#14 - Burning<strong>  
>When they fought, Jet's insults hurt her worse than anything Zuko had said to her and it made Mai wish she were a Firebender to show Jet the pain he'd caused her.<p>

**#25 - Quitting**  
>You're just a quitter, she remembered his scathing words say, that's why you left Zuko, your family, and the Fire Nation, but she wondered who the real quitter was when she awoke the next morning to discover that he was gone.<br>**  
>#36 - Sordid<strong>  
>It was dirty work, definitely below him, but he was going to do it for her sake, to erase her pain, and so he could completely claim her as his.<p>

**#16 - Breaking**  
>Everyday that he was gone seemed to chip a bit of herself off, slowly and methodically, until she was sure that she would be nothing but a pathetic, boring pile of gray dust.<p>

**#05 - Worry**  
>"I'll kill you," she swore, "I'll break every bone in your body for doing this to me."<p>

**#47 - Valiant**  
>Mai, I've messed up, read his letter when he did not return with it.<br>**  
>#33 - Stupidity<strong>  
>"Your self-righteous assassination journey was just stupid," she spat at him when he returned finally with pitiful, broken eyes.<p>

**#04 - Wonder**  
>"Please forgive me," he said, hanging his head, and was surprised when she maternally cradled his face against her stomach.<p>

**#38 - Sojourn**  
>"I'm sorry," he whispered weakly, sincerely, "please stay; I want you to."<p>

**#49 - Victory**  
>Jet caught her wrist as she reached to tend to his burns and looked fiercely into her solemn eyes as he said, "It wasn't stupid, Mai, because in the end, I'm the one who has you."<p>

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><p>There you are! I hope you enjoyed! Please review!<p>

**_-NuitSongeur_**


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